Kwathu ndi ku Malawi

When I sit for dinner, I'm surrounded by many things and many people and many beliefs. One meal here in Malawi can contain a Muslim, a Seventh Day Adventist, a Presbyterian, an atheist, and an agnostic. One meal can contain a Malawian, an American, a German, a Latin American and a Dutchman. One meal here in Malawi can contain someone who is gay, straight, and bi. One of the most beautiful things my masters degree and Peace Corps have done for me is given me the privilege of dining with so many different people. In Turkey where about 99% of the population are Muslims to Malawi where over half of my community is Muslim and were the Baptists denomination is rare if hardly found. And volunteers here in Malawi come from around the whole world! I've gotten to see life through the eyes of those who didn't grow up like me in America. Who didn't grow up in the "Bible Belt." Chatting with people who are so different from me but getting the chance to hear about who ...

A little cartoon that went "mini-viral" on Facebook. It claims to help people gain perspective but from what I see, the cartoon is a typical how Americans view Africans- misinformed, outdated.  To begin, these children are all seen with no shirts on and somewhat tribal looking bottoms. Not all kids in Africa, actually most, do not look like or live like this picture suggests. They don't roam naked in tribes in the jungle all day.  Secondly, most children in Africa DO sit in school for hours of the day as well just like North American children. Except there is no aircon, normally no posters on the wall, no toys, no crayons, not enough desks, not enough teachers, not enough classrooms. Oh yes, African children sit in class all day but they sweat, its 90 degrees, cram 4 into a desk for 1, have 50 students per classroom. And maybe kids in America are overdosed, but kids here, they can die from not having access to drugs. Kids in America take m...

The Things She Carried Some of the best, most invaluable things I packed for Malawi were : My 32L Northface hiking pack My JanSport small daypack Chacos A tent that can sleep 2 My Colombia fleece jacket Unlocked iPhone 3GS Apple iPod with headphones Pens and markers Nalgene water bottle  Some reliable headlamps Deodorant Things maybe I could have done without: Socks Long underwear  Winter gloves Too many pocket knives Hiking boots (Chacos win at everything) Nook e-reader (paper books are abundant from Peace Corps and other volunteers. Plus I can't download new books because I don't have wifi) Ponchos Solio solar charger (not worth the $$) Things that were sent to me that have been super nice: Battery operated fan Spices for food and cooking Foldable organization baskets Seeds Folders and notebooks Pictures Sewing kits Things I acquired here that I am thoroughly enjoying: Trek Bike Zitenj...

So what do I do here? Well, a little and also a lot. Because trying to do anything sometimes feels like a lot! Projects and progress and change are slow but also sure.  When I first came to Malawi, I knew I wanted to teach. I love it- it's a passion. So I became connected to the local Secondary School or High School in my area and I started teaching Life Skills which is a class that teaches students about everything from HIV to globalization to conflict resolution to setting goals and having healthy habits. Basically, skills you need to really excel and love in life. I very much enjoy teaching this class. I teach 2 different grades each having about 50 students in the class. This takes up about 2 days a week.  This past year I've also started an after school club with a fellow teacher called AIDS TOTO Club meaning "the refusal to get AIDS." We focus on discussions, lessons, songs, dance, poems and role-play to learn. We are hoping to take our talents out...

Cooking. [laugh] Never will I ever! Well, you know what they say, "never say never." I left the United States with a stomach full of the sweetest coffee and I think a pastry I bought in the airport. My diet before village life in Malawi? Mountain Dew, Coffee, an occasional apple, random fast-food, grilled cheese, doughnuts. It wasn't a weight issue at just under 110 lbs (I don't know how this was possible but its true). It was a health issue though. I couldn't cook. Confirm this with my mother. 24 years old and I could not even make my own grilled cheese. I didn't even want to try and cook. Now, let me explain a little. I graduated a semester early from UGA to start my first "real job." And the week I was promoted to full-time was the same week I started graduate school. Almost 2 years of no sleep, no food, papers, work, deadlines, research, performance reviews and just that precious Mountain Dew and coffee.  So, I join Peace Corps and move t...

It's a small success. Like dew in the morning you know it probably won't last. Ups and down. The tide in and out. Development.  Last year the local secondary school (high school) got their first female teacher along with a boarding school for girls. What a success! We started an AIDS TOTO club together and planned projects to empower girls. But now she is being transferred to a school hours away. One of the most educated women in the community now gone. Where do we go from here? No male teachers want to continue the AIDS toto club with me. Several female students have gotten pregnant and are called "useless." In my American mind we were making progress. Now as a Peace Corps Volunteer my emotions feel like they are back to square one. Development.  They call me doctor now in the village. I'm not but it's the name given to anyone even remotely connected to the clinic. Even the cleaning staff. Even when all you do is make...

I dislike the term "first world." The taste it leaves on my tongue. And I dislike the term "third world." The terms are outdated, perhaps derogatory, and only divide, not unite populations. Most political scientists would now agree.  I don't live in the third world- I live in the world. And although the United States may think they are, they aren't the first, the greatest, or the indomitable.  What makes the purity and simplicity of this village life in Malawi third and others first? May the meek inherit the earth. When the last shall become first.  Some book recommendations for those interested in diving into these concepts more: Things Fall Apart Poisonwood Bible Smoldering Charcoal Heart of Darkness Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles Dead Aid Development as Freedom ^^Photo: The multiple children playing just outside my house near the porch.

Malawi. Malawi is an experience that we see. He stands by the paved road every day. He watches as mini-bus after mini-bus full of humans crammed in as if they were cattle pass by. He runs after each one, hands full of today's produce- onions, tomatoes, cabbage. All will go bad in just a matter of days and can no longer can be sold. He prays for passengers in need of the products he has. His eyes have long lost hope. But wait, here comes another bus, filled to the brim. He makes one sell. A bundle of tomatoes for K100- about $.40. The next bus comes and drops a passenger. No sale. And the next 20 buses come with no sale. The day is winding down but yet another bus approaches. He runs up to it but they drop the passenger and then slam the door in his face. His eyes drop and he sighs. It looks as if his heart just broke. The heat beats down on his dark face. It's time to walk home. Home to 5 children and a wife. Tomorrow is another day.  Malawi. Malawi we cannot or d...

I’m sitting in a beautiful new office at my secondary school donated by the people of Japan typing yet another blog on my computer all while looking at the internet on my iPhone while I discuss, or I should really say listen, to the plight of one of the smartest teachers at my school. He speaks with frustration and despair over the poor situation Malawi and many other parts of Africa still find themselves in. It has been fifty years since independence and yet Malawi and it’s people, especially the rural population, are still very poor. And as I sit here discussing development theory with an iphone and laptop in front of me, I realize just how inadequate all my book knowledge is when it comes to really understanding poverty and development. I am able to carry on an intelligent conversation due to my degree in international policy but ultimately what do I know? What do I know of a society where cycles of poverty repeat over and over again to the point where even t...